


"Teach me how to skate?"

by btsunshine



Category: ENHYPEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Bang Chan and Soobin as skating coaches for little kids, Crushes, Cute, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Ice Skating, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Slow Burn, So much nervous energy in this, They're really good friends with Stray Kids and TXT, but it's adorable, they're both so awkward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29672289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/btsunshine/pseuds/btsunshine
Summary: The edges of Sunghoon's lips curled up in a smirk. "I saw you here yesterday, too, and I didn't think much of it. But now you're here again?" He easily slid a skate off one foot, wiping the blade with a cloth.Despite the frigid air of the rink, Jake felt his cheeks heat up. How could he get out of this?Sunghoon neatly placed the first skate in his duffel bag. He turned to look at Jake, raising an eyebrow, expecting a response."Can you teach me how to skate?" Jake blurted out.
Relationships: Park Sunghoon/Sim Jaeyun | Jake
Comments: 38
Kudos: 50





	1. The Mystery of the Ice Prince

**Author's Note:**

> This spontaneously came to me last night, and I figured if I still remembered it in the morning, it was probably a good enough idea to write.
> 
> I actually skated myself for about eight years, with three of those years spent doing figure skating, but I haven't even touched the ice in the last four years or so, and writing this was almost bittersweet... I miss skating, haha :)
> 
> This is focused around ENHYPEN, but the secondary characters are from Stray Kids and TXT; they won't be in the first chapter, but they'll be in all the others.

It all started with curiosity.

It was Jake's second week as a trainee. Having just come from Australia, he was still trying to get used to a new country and make friends.

The trainees were mostly kind, but he could tell that they were all very close already, and he felt awkward around them. Practice usually ended at seven or eight in the evening. So they often went as a big group down to a nearby restaurant to eat dumplings. Jake lagged behind in the company building, watching them leave, unsure if he was even allowed to join them.

But he'd started noticing now, every day for the last two weeks, one of the trainees split ways from the group after practice. He wasn't going to eat with everyone else. Instead, he walked the opposite way down the street, lugging a duffel bag along with him. Jake's curiosity piqued as he watched the lone figure retreat with long, graceful strides.

 _Maybe he's also new, and doesn't feel like joining them,_ Jake thought. But he kept an eye on the mysterious trainee the next few days. He saw that he was friendly with some of the best trainees, and figured that maybe he'd been there a while. And then he saw the mystery trainee dance, and there was no way he was new. He couldn't have learned to dance like that so quickly.

It took Jake a few days to get a hang on everyone's names, but the first one he insisted on knowing was the mysterious trainee-- Park Sunghoon.

For the last four days, the other trainees had invited Jake to join them on their daily dumpling venture. And although he was happy to be included and get a chance to befriend them, that didn't stop him from glancing over his shoulder when he left. He was brimming with curiosity.

Where was Sunghoon going?

The Australian actually had gotten an opportunity to ask once before. They were all in a rap workshop, since the company thought it would be a good experience for all trainees to at least have basic training in both rapping and singing. Jake was put in a group to work with Sunghoon and another trainee, Jongseong. Jongseong-- who had introduced himself as Jay-- spoke pretty good English. So Jake was starting to become friends with him. But it was obvious that Jay and Sunghoon were close friends, maybe best friends, so Jake almost felt like he was third-wheeling.

Jay had left their little group to go fill his water bottle, and Jake pounced on the opportunity. "So," he asked, in a flare of confidence, "I've noticed you go somewhere after practice instead of getting dumplings with everyone... where do you go?"

Sunghoon had tilted his head at the question, seeming to understand Jake was talking to him, but the trainee just smiled and shook his head. Jake thought maybe his Korean wasn't good enough for the elegant boy to understand. So he resigned himself to not knowing rather than embarrassing himself by trying to ask the question again.

Jay figured out that all three of them were born in the same year, so he insisted they hang out together more. Jake thought he was probably just trying to be friendly because Jake was the new kid, after all, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. He never asked Sunghoon about his after-practice destination again, hoping that his same-age friend might bring up the topic eventually.

But he didn't, and the question still weighed on Jake's mind.

Finally, Jake's curiosity got the best of him. After practice on Saturday, the day they got off early, he politely turned down the invitation to go get dumplings, saying he had something to do.

In fact, he did have something to do, but it wasn't some sort of errand. No, he went to follow Park Sunghoon.

Jake felt a little weird being so sneaky. In Australia, he was never like this. If he wanted to get to know someone, he'd go up to them and start a conversation. But after his first failure at asking the question, he was a little more hesitant. His Korean wasn't that great, since he'd only spoken the language around his grandparents.

A large part of him figured that Sunghoon probably left the other trainees to do something boring. Maybe he preferred to go home for dinner. Maybe he had a part-time job, like many other trainees. Maybe he just... didn't like dumpings? But on Saturdays, training ended early. And even though the other trainees still went down for a dumpling lunch, Sunghoon split off. So there had to be some reason he was leaving.

A small part of him was hoping there'd be something interesting. He'd spent enough time looking at Sunghoon during vocal lessons to know that the trainee was handsome. Extremely handsome. Otherworldly handsome. _(Okay, Jake, you're going too far now.)_ Still, something about the trainee made him look special. Maybe he was secretly a model. Or-- no, something more interesting. A spy, perhaps, although he couldn't see why a spy would be sent to a music company.

He followed from a distance, watching Sunghoon's tall, slim figure walk down two blocks and turn a corner. Jake sped up slightly to catch up, peeking around the corner. He had to quickly hop back, hiding himself.

Sunghoon was waiting at a bus stop, his duffel bag resting on the bench beside him. He stood in a relaxed position, looking at something on his phone.

Unwilling to be caught, Jake stayed behind the corner, and took another peek to check the bus stop number. He frowned as he looked up the bus schedule. This particular bus came once every half hour. He'd have to take the same bus as Sunghoon in order to see where he was going.

The bus pulled up, and Sunghoon boarded it, along with three other people who had been waiting. Jake waited until the last person was about to step on, then quickly joined the line, pulling his hood up and tapping his bus card. He sat in the front row, hoping Sunghoon would be somewhere in the middle of the bus and not notice him at all. The guess was right-- Sunghoon sat in a window seat near the back.

When he turned to glance over his shoulder, Sunghoon seemed to be listening to music, his head swaying slightly as he watched the buildings pass by outside the window. The bright afternoon light cast beautiful shadows over his face, and Jake had to pull his eyes away, reminding himself that he was trying to be secretive.

The bus had been driving for about half an hour, and Jake was starting to wonder when the other trainee would get off the bus. It was a blue bus, so Jake knew it would stay in the city, but he hadn't expected to ride for this long.

Finally, the automated voice announced a stop, and Jake saw Sunghoon move from his seat, gracefully swinging the strap of the duffel bag over his shoulder and standing up while the bus was still in motion.

Jake tried standing up a moment later, when the bus was coming to a stop, and nearly fell over his own feet.

He followed Sunghoon as the boy walked a few blocks into a massive building, an imposing structure of large windows and curved architecture.

 _Should I stop?_ Jake wondered. He'd gone this far, but now that he knew where Sunghoon was going, maybe that was enough to fuel his curiosity. _I'm being kind of creepy, aren't I,_ he thought. _If this wasn't someone I knew, this would be super weird behaviour. No, take that back. It's weird even though I do know him._

He tried to piece together the words on the large sign in front of him, but his ability to read Korean was worse than his ability to speak, and he gave up, choosing to simply enter.

He entered the building and stopped, momentarily surprised. The entrance hall was large, with high ceilings. He glanced up to see banners hanging from the ceiling. No, not banners-- pictures. There was a row of hanging pictures of... skaters? He recognized the Olympic symbol on the corner of each picture.

There was some sort of booth as well, some sort of front desk reception area, but there was nobody there, so Jake tentatively walked down the large hall. There were windows on one side, and he turned to look through them, hoping to see Sunghoon somewhere.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw the very person he was looking for-- skating on a massive expanse of beautiful white ice.

The windows were tinted in some way, and a good distance away from the edge of the rink, but he knew for sure it was the person he'd been following.

Jake searched for the entrance to the rink, finally coming through a heavy set of metal doors. He stayed near the wall as he walked, moving to sit in a relatively shadowy area, partially hidden by some sort of referee booth.

He realized that it was just the two of them there, the entire skating rink was empty. It was massive, bigger than any basketball court he'd seen. In Australia, there weren't many skating rinks, and even then it was very expensive to skate. He'd tried it only twice and had never really gotten the hang of it.

But none of that mattered, because the way Sunghoon moved on the ice was... it was everything. It was impossible to describe in words. He skated like he was born to do it, footsteps smooth and effortless on the frozen surface. And, just as Jake was hooked, Sunghoon kicked off and jumped. He spun like a top, so quickly that Jake couldn't even count the rotations in the air. Then he was landing, agile and poised, a leg reaching out behind him.

Jake's jaw dropped in awe. Sure, he'd watched the Olympics on TV before, but he'd never seen anyone do this in real life. This looked so beautiful.

His mind was practically blown as he remembered that this was the same Sunghoon who was a trainee, who could do the hip hop moves with striking precision. He hadn't expected him to move quite so artfully.

He moved so fluidly it was like a ribbon dancing through the air, and it was so beautiful that Jake couldn't even blink. Under the bright lights of the rink, standing on the glimmering white ice, Sunghoon looked even more beautiful than he normally did, if that was even possible.

 _He's like a prince._ Jake thought to himself.

Sunghoon skated to a stop at the edge of the ice, grabbing a water bottle and taking a drink. He was wearing just a long-sleeved shirt and dark pants. The light grey shirt was tight enough that, even from a distance, Jake could see the mesmerizing movements of his muscles as he put the water bottle down, brushing his hair back slightly. He paused for another moment before turning around and heading back to the center of the ice. If Jake listened carefully enough, he could hear the sound of sharp blades on slippery ice, sounds echoing in the hollow chamber.

"So this is what he does." Jake mumbled to himself. It was almost impossible to believe. He'd thought that being a trainee meant that you were prepared to put your entire life into becoming an idol. But this-- there was no way anyone could ever give up on this. Sunghoon looked like he was flying, free as a bird.

Jake would have been content to just stay there forever, watching Sunghoon glide across the ice. It was like watching da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa, like watching Mozart put together a symphony. It was art in its purest, rawest form, and he didn't want to tear his eyes away.

But his phone trembled in his pocket, and he looked down to see his parents were calling. The Australian quickly left the massive rink, careful to stay in the shadows. He didn't want Sunghoon to see him, to know how Jake had followed him all the way here.

He walked all the way back to the bus stop, going to the other side of the road so that the bus would take him back to the company building. At least from there, he knew how to get to the dorms.

He called his parents back, apologizing quickly that he'd missed their first call. Australia was a couple of hours ahead of Korea, so his parents always called after their dinner to check on him. The call was always pretty standard-- they asked him what he was up to, if he was learning well, if he had made any new friends. Jake was happy to talk, glad to finally talk to someone who could respond in English. Still, he couldn't get his mind off the skating he'd just seen.

His parents let him video call today so that he could see his dog, Layla, who he already missed. "Layla misses you too." his mom had told him. "She still sits by the door in the afternoon, waiting for you to come home." She had meant it to be sweet, but it made Jake homesick.

He hung up the call to get on the bus, and as he rode home, his mind was a blur of thoughts; of Australia, the home he missed so much; of Sunghoon, the mystery turning out to be even better than he'd dreamed; of his new life in Korea.

When he finally got back to the dorm, the sun was low on the horizon. Purple-tinted clouds floated in the orange sky, the view broken by the crisscrossing lines of telephone poles. Jake ignored the sunset outside his window as he ate his ramen. Instead, he took out his laptop, opening a browser window.

He took a deep breath, typing the words in.

_Park Sunghoon._

The results loaded quickly.

62,042 search results. Okay. That was... a lot.

There was a Wikipedia page for him, mentioning a few medals he'd apparently won for figure skating. That was no surprise.

A couple videos appeared, and he quickly clicked to watch them. There were quite a few videos of Sunghoon skating in competition, and Jake watched intently, his admiration growing. Even though the skater fell every so often, he got back up every time, skating so gracefully that it didn't even matter.

Jake had seen ballet dancers in Australia, and if he had to compare Sunghoon to anything, it would be them. But ballet didn't let you glide, let you soar across a smooth surface as beautifully as Park Sunghoon did on the ice.

Jake watched the videos over and over. Sometimes he admired the elegant gestures. Sometimes he watched Sunghoon's black figure skates as they twirled around the ice. Sometimes he found himself staring at Sunghoon's face, the beautiful sharp nose, the perfect eyes, the soft lips, the way his hair fluffed down around his face when he brushed it back. Jake's eyes were transfixed on the tiny mark on the side of Sunghoon's nose, like the angel that had crafted such a perfect human had cried a single tear, a single spot adorned on a heavenly masterpiece of a person.

It was late at night when Jake finally went to bed, and even then he couldn't shake the visions of Sunghoon skating circles around his head.

He decided he'd go back and watch again, the next chance he got.

The next day, he'd gone to the company and watched Sunghoon. He watched as the trainee ambled through the halls, his long legs moving nimbly, but not quite so lightly as when he skated. He watched as his friend smiled and laughed, his eyes glowing, but not quite so much as when he was standing under the lights of the skating rink. He watched through the mirrors in dance practice, watching the hard-hitting movements and realizing that the effortless transitions between movements were probably learned from his time on ice.

Jake's gaze all through practice was transfixed on the skater. Even as practice ended, he found his heart leaping with anticipation. He followed Sunghoon back to the beautiful glass building once more, watching with the same awe and admiration he had the previous day. Sunghoon seemed-- happier today. He had a tiny smile on his face-- was that a smirk?

He'd put music on today, too, instead of the ethereal silence of the arena yesterday. This music was-- oh. This music changed the mood entirely. Yesterday, the silence had made every motion more dramatic, every brush with the ice more impactful.

The song he was playing was so unlike the slow, emotional songs in the videos that Jake had watched last night. No, this made Sunghoon look distinctly... dangerous. He could see the sharp hip-hop elements in this performance, contrasting so perfectly with the flowing transitions. This didn't seem like a choreographed routine, but the spins and jumps that Sunghoon freestyled fit the song perfectly. If his body moved like smooth silk yesterday, today it was like a well-oiled machine. He was precise and sharp, and somehow his delicate moves yesterday had turned into something powerful.

Jake saw Sunghoon turn around as the song was ending, facing Jake's direction. He took a few loping strides, then suddenly he was skating at full speed towards the half-wall that separated the ice from the bleachers.

Jake barely had time to react to the person incoming at too quick a speed to seem possible. And just as he was about to flinch, he heard a swish and saw a spray of snow fly towards him. Even though he was hiding in the corner of the massive rink, he could swear some of the spray managed to hit him.

Sunghoon had stopped there, right at the edge of the rink... making eye contact with Jake. His gaze was unfaltering, piercing in a way that Jake had never seen before.

Jake's mind went blank. "Uh... hi?" he said intelligently, a guilty smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Sunghoon asked, an undecipherable expression on his face. Jake couldn't tell what his reaction would be if Jake told him the truth-- if he was going to be angry, or laugh, or something else entirely.

Jake stuttered, trying to form a response. "I... I..."

The edges of Sunghoon's lips curled up slightly, and he pushed the half-wall. Jake realized it was a door. The skater didn't go up to Jake-- instead, he perched on the edge of the first-row bench, casually unlacing his skates. Jake hadn't noticed that Sunghoon's duffel bag was sitting under a bench. "I saw you here yesterday, too, and I didn't think much of it, but now you're here again? Following me on the bus over?" He easily slid a skate off one foot, wiping the blade with a cloth.

Despite the frigid air of the rink, Jake felt his cheeks heat up. How could he get out of this?

Sunghoon clipped the guard on and neatly placed the first skate in his duffel bag. He turned to look at Jake, raising an eyebrow.

"Can you teach me how to skate?" Jake blurted out.

The skater didn't respond, merely reaching to slide the other skate off his foot and wiping it clean. He affixed the guard to it and it, too went neatly into the duffel bag. He still didn't say a word as he zipped the bag closed and shrugged a jacket on.

Finally, he stood up, meeting Jake's eyes. "Okay. We don't have early practice tomorrow. Meet me here. 7 AM."

He turned around and strode cleanly down the length of the ice rink, exiting through the double doors. Only when the doors had closed behind the taller boy did Jake let himself release the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

_What did I just get myself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was in the midst of writing Jake following Sunghoon when I realized it's lowkey creepy to follow someone, even if they're your friend? I'm sorry if that was weird to read. Even though we know (or at least I hope it's clear) that Jake is just curious and has no sketchy intentions, I understand if it's uncomfortable reading about it, and I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. I really wanted to write a scene where Sunghoon surprises Jake hiding in the shadows of the rink, but I didn't know how to preface that. I hope you still found it as funny as I thought it might be :)


	2. I Want To Enter Your (Ice) Cube

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter welcomes some new friends: Bang Chan, Hyunjin, and Felix from Stray Kids, and Beomgyu from TXT. You don't need to know who they are for the chapter, but all the better if you do :)

"Can you teach me how to skate?" Jake blurted out.

The skater didn't respond, merely reaching to slide the other skate off his foot and wiping it clean. He affixed the guard to it and it, too, went neatly into the duffel bag. He still didn't say a word as he zipped the bag closed and shrugged a jacket on.

Finally, he stood up, meeting Jake's eyes. "Okay. I don't have early practice tomorrow. Meet me here. 7 AM."

He turned around and strode cleanly down the length of the ice rink, exiting through the double doors. Only when the doors had closed behind the taller boy did Jake let himself release the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

_What did I just get myself into?_

~~~~~

Still reeling from the shock, Jake took a step backwards, forgetting there was a bench behind him. He nearly tripped, ending up sitting awkwardly.

"That wasn't the worst thing that could happen, was it?" he murmured to himself in English. "I could at least learn to skate." _Plus, there's no harm in having a distractingly handsome teacher._

He sighed, taking in the frigid air. It was early spring, but he hadn't brought a jacket warm enough for the rink.

"Well," he said to himself, "no point in staying here alone." He stepped down from the benches, admiring the rink around him as he walked to the exit. The rink was in a large, dome-like structure, and a solid blue metallic frame seemed to hold the ceiling up. All things considered, the rink was massive, nothing like Jake had ever seen in Australia.

He walked through the long hall and found himself back at the booths in the front. There had been two people behind the desk, and he blinked in surprise as he saw Sunghoon in conversation with them.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" Sunghoon grinned, but his tone was more excited than joking. "Jake, come meet my friends." He beckoned the Australian over.

Jake was startled, he had thought his friend would have just left, not hang around after the exchange.

"Oh, come on, you didn't forget we have to take the same bus home, did you?" Sunghoon laughed. It was like he had read Jake's mind. "Come on, they don't bite, I promise."

Jake tentatively came forward to see two new faces. They seemed to be teenage boys as well, approximately the same age as he was.

"Hi!" One of them waved, standing up. "I'm Beomgyu. You can call me hyung if you like. Ignore what he said, I do bite." An excited grin spread over his youthful features, and he gave a dramatic wink, followed by playfully snapping his teeth. Jake smiled at his antics.

The other smiled, brushing his long hair back. "I'm Hyunjin... also a hyung. I don't bite. And you must be Jake? Sunghoon has told us a lot about you." He glanced pointedly at Sunghoon, illustrating his handsome features.

Sunghoon shifted to attention. "Jake, these two are my skating friends; they work some of the shifts here at the front desk. Doing scheduling, skate rentals, the boring stuff."

"Hey, we skate too!" Beomgyu pouted. "Although we're definitely not as good as this guy." He sighed, gently cuffing Sunghoon on the shoulder.

Jake nodded, taken slightly aback. How was every single person here so gorgeous? They weren't as handsome as Sunghoon, or maybe he was just biased, but they were still jaw-droppingly beautiful in their own right. Did the ice have magical properties or something?

"I guess you know my name already, I'm Jake. Uh..." he trailed off, not sure what else to say.

"Sunghoon tells us you come from Australia," Beomgyu said excitedly. "What is it like there, are there kangaroos everywhere?"

"Uh, not exactly." Jake laughed awkwardly. "It's pretty hot there, compared to here at least. We don't have many skating rinks here, especially not like this."

"Australia sounds so dreamy and exotic," Beomgyu smiled. "I don't think I've ever met anyone from Australia."

"You fool, Chris-hyung is from Australia!" Hyunjin laughed.

Beomgyu blinked. "...Chris?"

"Chan-hyung." Hyunjin said, an amused smile on his face. "You know Chan-hyung."

"Ohhh." Beomgyu laughed, a reaction that seemed entirely too pure.

Jake's eyes widened excitedly. "Wait, you know someone from Australia?"

"You'll see him when we come tomorrow morning," Sunghoon said. "He'll probably be glad to talk to you."

"So," Hyunjin leaned in, resting on his elbows. "How long have you known Sunghoonie?"

"Oh, uh, just two weeks." Jake said, glancing awkwardly at his fellow trainee.

"Isn't he so handsome? He's probably the most handsome guy you've ever seen right? Surely there's nobody this handsome in Australia." Beomgyu grinned. Sunghoon stiffened beside him.

Jake felt his face reddening. "Uh, what? I mean, yeah, I guess, he's handsome." He embarrassedly fixed his eyes on a pen lying on the desk.

"Our Sunghoon has always been handsome." Hyunjin smiled, patting the skater on the head. "He's such a good skater. But not so good at... at other things." The long-haired boy was practically staring holes into Sunghoon's soul, blatantly tilting his head towards Jake.

"Oh, uh, the bus will come soon, Jake and I should really get going." Sunghoon said quickly, gently grabbing Jake by the arm and turning around. "Bye, hyungs."

"Bye, Sunghoonie, bye Jake!" The two left at the front desk seemed to laugh as they watched the younger two leave.

They walked to the bus stop in silence, Sunghoon's pace a little quicker than usual. Jake glanced up a few times at his friend's face, but his gaze was never returned. The skater had a distinctly pink tint to his skin, but it could just easily be from the cold of the ice rink.

The bus hadn't arrived yet, so the two stood there.

"Uh, your friends seemed nice." Jake offered awkwardly.

"They are." Sunghoon looked a lot more reserved now that he was off the ice, the bravado and confidence faded. Jake observed that, even though he didn't look as radiant as he did while skating, he was still the most handsome person the Australian had ever seen.

"So, you've been here for a few weeks now," Sunghoon said. "Do you like it here?"

"It's nice, but a little lonely." Jake admitted. "I've never lived in a dorm before, and my Korean's not that good."

"Your Korean is getting a lot better." Sunghoon said earnestly, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. "Did you sing back in Australia? Dance?"

"I... not really." Jake laughed. "I only sang for fun, mostly. And I played soccer, but not much dance."

The bus pulled up, and the two friends boarded, sitting in a pair of seats near the middle. They settled into their seats, arranging their bags on their laps.

Sunghoon pointed out a small storefront as the bus began to drive. "There, that's my favorite cafe to go to after skating practice. They have pretty good dessert pancakes." he said, "perfect after a long session."

Jake nodded, observing the shop as the bus drove by. "How long have you been skating for?"

Sunghoon pushed his hair back. "Since I was 9, so... almost ten years now." He looked down. "Most people actually start younger, like 4 or 5, so I started pretty late."

"I don't think those few years made a difference," Jake said, "you're already amazing. I... I actually looked up your skating. You've won medals and stuff! You must be legendary."

"Oh, I'm not a big deal." the skater shrugged. "None of the trainees even know I skate, I only told Jay-hyung and Heeseung-hyung."

Jake's eyes boggled. "Why, not tell people, though-- it's the coolest thing ever, that you skate. You could, I don't know, go to the Olympics or something."

"I was actually considered for the Olympic team," Sunghoon laughed, "but I like that nobody knows about this. It's nice to keep my two worlds separate, right? And... well, I like that there's no judgment."

 _Judgment?_ Jake frowned, slightly confused. Any judgment about something like this was bound to be positive-- Sunghoon was incredible. He expressed this, but the skater didn't respond, simply smiling and shaking his head.

"What's it like, skating?" Jake asked.

"What is it like?" the other frowned. "I don't-- have you never skated before?"

"I've tried, once or twice, but I never was good at it-- not like you." he laughed.

"I guess that's why you're asking for lessons." Sunghoon paused for a moment, thinking. "There's a lot more freedom than just normal ground, I guess. Since the ice is so slippery, you can just glide on it, without friction... do you know what that means?"

Jake nodded, and the skater continued. "And that's what lets you spin for so long, and it gives you the momentum to jump..." A glazed-over look appeared in his eyes. "Landing a jump is the most satisfying thing. It's harder than people think, you probably fall once or twice every five times you jump. But when you get that perfect landing, it's magical."

"It looks magical." Jake said quietly, admiring the way the other trainee's eyes lit up as he spoke. Sunghoon was in the window seat, and even just the light from passing streetlights illuminated his features in an ethereal glow.

The automated voice announced another stop, and Sunghoon straightened up. "Oh, this next stop is the closest to the dorms, we should get off."

They moved to standing, holding onto poles until the bus stopped to let them off.

They walked up a sloped street to the apartment building that partially served as one of the company's dorms.

"You're in one of these, right?" Sunghoon asked.

"Yeah. I actually have my own room and everything." Jake said. "I think it's because I'm the newest trainee-- there are other bunk beds, but nobody's come to fill up the rest of the space."

Sunghoon frowned. "You can come to my dorm sometime, if you like. I share with Jay-hyung and two others, but they don't mind company. I don't want you to be lonely."

"It's okay so far." Jake shrugged. "Maybe I'll come another day."

They entered the building and came to the elevators. Sunghoon pushed the button for the fifth floor, Jake for the sixth.

"Promise you'll come if you're lonely." Sunghoon insisted. "We're number 508. I'm pretty sure half the floor is for trainees, so if you ever forget, just knock on a random door and ask."

Jake laughed. "Okay, maybe."

The elevator stopped at the fifth floor, and Sunghoon got out. "See you tomorrow, Jake. Oh, we can catch the 6:20 bus together. And one more thing-- bring warm clothes tomorrow. It's very cold." he managed to squeeze in before the elevator doors closed.

Jake smiled, waving a goodbye. He arrived on the sixth floor and dug through his backpack for his keys, finding them underneath his umbrella. He had gotten in and was just about to start making ramen for dinner when his phone lit up with a call.

He smiled to see a picture of one of his friends back home, quickly answering the call.

 _"Hello?"_ A deep voice rang out in the empty dorm.

"Felix!" Jake peered at the screen, waving at the blond, freckled boy who appeared. "How have you been?"

 _"Good, I guess."_ Felix shrugged. _"How are you? You're in Korea now, right? I bet your team is going down without you next season. They're lucky you waited until after the championship game before moving."_

The two weren't exactly destined to be friends. In Australia, they'd lived in completely different parts of the country, and Jake was two years younger than Felix. As fate would have it, their school soccer teams were actually national rivals. Jake had been the youngest on his school's team, while Felix was the captain of their rival team. But when the two Korean-Australians met, they hit it off immediately. They had the same taste in music, same cheerful personality, and even the same nervous habit of rolling their socks before soccer games. They'd kept in touch, and met up at every national soccer championship. This was much to the dismay of their coaches, who insisted that the rivalry between both schools was bigger than their friendship.

Jake laughed. "Oh, even without me, St. Patrick's team can't compare. You're graduating this year, right? They won't even have the best captain in all of history to lead them."

 _"Oh, you flatter me."_ Felix fluttered his eyes in false humbleness. _"So, really though, how's it going in the great motherland?"_

"It's nice here." Jake shrugged. "But I didn't realize how atrocious my Korean was. I really have to catch up to everyone else."

Felix nodded. _"You'll get there, I know it. What's training like?"_

"I don't know, it's a lot more intense than I expected. But the other trainees are nice, I think."

Felix waggled an eyebrow. "Do you have any friends yet?"

Jake perked up. "Yes, actually, I met the most amazing figure skater. He's perfect, I tell you, we're the same age but he goes to international skating competitions, and he wins medals, and he's so handsome, and honestly charming, like a prince, and he's a good dancer too, and he's going to teach me how to skate tomorrow morning, and--"

"Hold on, hold on." Felix smiled. " _So is he a friend, or, you know, a... **friend?"**_ The older of the two winked. _"It sounds like you **really** like him."_

"Felix...." Jake whined. "You know how it is here. I'm not allowed to tell anyone I like guys. The culture is just different."

 _"But you do like him."_ the older of the two observed. _"You called him cute."_

"We've never even talked about crushes or anything. His entire life is skating, man, I don't think he's ever had a chance to even think about dating."

 _"Okay, fine, that's fair."_ Felix sighed. _"I'm glad you're not lonely, at least."_

Jake glanced around his empty dorm."I guess so. I wish you could be here too, though. But how is it back in good old Aussie?"

Felix thought for a moment. _"Oh, I know! The craziest thing happened last week..."_

They talked for hours, the conversation continuing even as Jake made his ramen and Felix got ready for bed. They reminisced on old memories, laughed about the rivalry and ongoing prank wars between their soccer teams, argued about the best soccer players. The conversation moved to music, and Felix even played a new song he'd been learning on the piano. But it finally stopped when Jake saw the clock reading an ungodly time.

"Felix, why aren't you sleeping yet? It's already way past midnight where you are." he asked.

 _"Mm."_ The older of the two stifled a yawn. _"It's okay. We haven't talked in so long. I wanted to catch up with you."_

"Well, now you can catch up on _sleep_." Jake chuckled. "I should go to bed too, I have to take a bus at, like, 6:20 to go skating with Sunghoon."

 _"So your ice prince's name is Sunghoon!"_ Felix jolted upright, suddenly no longer tired. _"I'll have to look him up. Have fun on your date tomorrow."_

"As I said, it's not a date." Jake pouted. "But you won't be disappointed if you look him up. There are some incredible skating videos. And now, seriously, good night."

 _"Good night."_ Felix waved as they hung up.

Jake brushed his teeth and picked out some of his warmer clothes to wear to the rink tomorrow. As he finished his nightly routine, plugging his phone in to charge and turning off the lights, he realized just how in he was over his head.

Tomorrow morning. Park Sunghoon. Was teaching him. How to skate.

This guy could leave all the world's models jobless, and here he was, volunteering his Monday morning for Jake Sim, a global nobody. Worse of all-- Jake was genuinely terrible at skating. Maybe this would be fine if he had a little hope-- if he could walk on the ice, or even glide a little. But Jake's only memories of skating were falling, trying to get up, and falling again.

"I'm doomed." he mumbled to himself. "Tomorrow, Park Sunghoon is going to see me fall on my face over and over again, and any chance I have at him liking me is going to be gone."


	3. Falling (For You)

Jake shrugged on his hoodie, taking one last look in the mirror.

"This looks okay, right?" he mumbled to himself. "I shouldn't look like I'm trying too hard. This is just a skating lesson."

He glanced at the clock to find it was 6:15-- he had five minutes to catch the bus. Sighing, the trainee shoved an extra flannel jacket into his backpack and grabbed his keys to leave the dorm. He took the elevator down and walked to the bus stop, where one lone figure was sitting on the bench.

"Sunghoon!" he called out as he got closer to the bench.

The skater turned around, a smile on his face. "Jake? You came! I thought you might not show up."

Jake laughed. "No, of course I'd be here. What kind of idiot would I be to skip a chance to learn skating from _the Park Sunghoon?"_

"Ah," Sunghoon smiled shyly, shaking his head. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Sure it is," Jake watched the bus arrive in front of them. The two got on quietly and found seats beside each other. The bus wasn't that full, only a few passengers scattered throughout the vehicle.

"It's kind of empty, hm?" Jake observed. He knew for sure that there were more people here the last time he'd followed Sunghoon to the skating rink, and he'd expected it to be busier with morning commuters.

"It's because this bus goes out of the city," Sunghoon explained, "more people are trying to get into the city at this time. But we're not here to talk about buses, are we? Ask me about skating, so you don't have as many questions when we get there."

Jake leaned back slightly. "Hm, I don't know what to ask," he shrugged sheepishly.

The skater giggled. "I forgot, you really don't know anything about skating, do you?"

Jake felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "Okay, it's not my fault! Skating isn't that big in Australia. It's too hot there."

"Good point, good point." Sunghoon said quietly, and the conversation trailed off into an uncomfortable silence. Jake glanced out the window, unsure of what to say.

"I know," he said finally. "Let's listen to some music."

"Sure," Sunghoon agreed, watching as Jake took his phone out of his pocket, handing a headphone to the other trainee.

Jake scrolled through his playlists. "Uh... what do you like to listen to?" he asked, slightly embarrassed to pick a song.

Sunghoon leaned in. "Hm, anything is fine." He reached out to click a random playlist, and Jake's face turned a particularly bright shade of tomato-red as classical violin music began to play.

"Oh, sorry," he said, pausing the song, "I... I played violin a bit back home."

Sunghoon didn't seem bothered, reaching over to continue the song. "That's really cool, I wish I played an instrument."

"Have you ever tried one before?" Jake asked, trying not to betray his surprise. Many of the trainees he'd met played an instrument, at least casually. Piano, guitar, flute... it was pretty common for trainees to have taken lessons before, if their parents had been able to afford it.

"Eh, I tried a few times when I was little, but never really got into anything. I regret it a bit now, it would have been a useful talent." Sunghoon fidgeted with his fingers slightly.

Jake blinked in surprise. "You-- you don't need any more talents. Your skating itself has to be worth five times the talent I've ever had myself."

He was surprised to see an almost sad, longing expression flit across Sunghoon's handsome features before the trainee put on a smile. "Well. Thank you. But really, you're quite talented. Skating... skating is cool, but it's not that big of a deal."

Jake smiled, despite his confusion. He wasn't sure why Sunghoon had been sad, even for a moment, but he refused to drop the topic until he knew the skater wasn't upset about anything.

"Of course it's a big deal, you're pretty much the best skater I've ever seen. Would I even have asked you for a skating lesson if you weren't so good?" Jake laughed, gently nudging Sunghoon with his shoulder.

Sunghoon looked down, a smile on his face, but Jake felt like it was forced. The Australian frowned now, unsure of what he was saying wrong. He didn't know how to make this any better.

They sat there without conversation for the rest of the bus ride, Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 playing through their headphones.

~~~

Jake spent the ride worrying about what Sunghoon was thinking, wondering if he should apologize. But he had no idea what he should apologize for. How would they skate, he thought, if he'd accidentally said something that had hurt the other?

But his worries faded when they arrived at their stop, and Sunghoon turned to him with a smile. "Come on, let's go!" _Had the other trainee even been sad at all?_

Sunghoon grabbed Jake's hand, interlacing their fingers as he led them off the bus and into the building, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He was walking quickly, so quickly that Jake had to awkwardly half-jog to keep up.

The Australian felt his jaw dropping in surprise; just moments ago he'd thought Sunghoon had been upset, but clearly he'd been wrong. His eyes travelled to their hands, feeling Sunghoon's soft fingers in between his own. He hoped the blush on his face wasn't too obvious as the skater marched him up to the front desk.

"You don't have skates, right?" Sunghoon asked. "I'll rent some for you."

"Oh, it's okay, I can pay--" Jake started, but Sunghoon shook his head. "No, it's fine. I've been a member with this rink for years now, I get a discount."

Jake recognized the two faces at the front desk from yesterday.

"Hey Hyunjin-hyung, Beomgyu-hyung!" Sunghoon said cheerfully.

"Sunghoonie! You brought your... _friend_." Beomgyu winked almost conspiratorially, and Jake smiled back, albeit slightly confused. Sunghoon seemed to stutter a little beside him.

Hyunjin waved happily. "Hi, Jake! Nice to see you again. Do you skate too?" His eyes lit up. "Wait, are you two going to skate together? A duet? I've never seen Sunghoon skate with a partner before." He looked entirely too excited, especially for it being this early in the morning.

"Oh," Jake laughed, "no... I actually haven't skated before. I-- Sunghoon is going to teach me."

Sunghoon nodded. "Yeah, we have to rent some skates for him today."

"Oh, nice," Beomgyu said, "what's your shoe size?" When Jake told him, the innocent-looking boy smiled even bigger. "That's the same size as Sunghoon! You guys could share shoes if you wanted to."

"And probably other things, as well." Hyunjin said mysteriously as he pulled a pair of skates off the shelves behind him and passed them over the counter. "Here you go. Have fun!"

"Thanks," Jake smiled, taking the skates in his hands. They were unexpectedly heavy, and he shifted them in his hands.

"Alright, goodbye hyungs. We only have an hour until we have to head back to the company, let's go!" Sunghoon said enthusiastically, pulling Jake towards the locker rooms.

Sunghoon slung his duffel bag on a bench immediately, sitting down and taking his skates out. Jake watched as he expertly put on the skates, tying them quickly and precisely. The skater was done with both his skates by the time that Jake had fit one foot into his first skate, trying to figure out the impossibly long laces.

"Aww, you really haven't done this before, have you?" Sunghoon laughed. "Here. Let me help you."

"Thank you." Jake smiled, slightly embarrassed as Sunghoon knelt before him, easily tying up the skate and securing it with a tight knot. Sunghoon shifted to take on the next skate, tying it just as easily as the first.

"And one more thing, I got a helmet for you." Sunghoon grinned. "I can skate without one, because I've been doing this for so long. But I've got to protect that wonderful brain of yours if you haven't tried skating before." Jake blushed slightly as Sunghoon slid the helmet over his head, snapping the buckle closed. It smelled like plastic, like it had been untouched since it left whatever factory it came from. Jake guessed that the other had never even used it. Still, Sunghoon looked inexplicably satisfied seeing the helmet atop Jake's head, as if this big, clunky thing on his head made him look funny.

They bundled up with gloves (in Sunghoon's case) and mittens (in Jake's case) and Jake put on his extra flannel.

"Okay, let's get on the ice now!" Sunghoon chirped, standing up easily. The skater grabbed both their bags and put them in a locker, locking it shut.

Jake tried to stand up from the bench, wobbling slightly on the thin blades. He grabbed on the wall to keep himself steady. "I can't even do this on land, how am I supposed to get on the ice?"

Sunghoon smiled. "You'll get it. This part isn't that hard, just try walking and it'll be a lot easier than you think." The trainee reached out his gloved hand and Jake took it in his own mittened hand as they walked towards the rink. Sunghoon was right-- it did get a little easier to balance as he walked on the soft rubber floors.

They walked up to the rink, hands still connected. Jake paused slightly as he looked out onto the rink. He'd expected it to be empty, but there was already a small group on the ice-- about ten kids, and two taller figures he assumed were other skating coaches.

"Are... are we allowed to be here?" Jake asked, suddenly nervous. "It looks like there's already a class going on."

"Yeah," Sunghoon said casually, "it's the kids' class."

Jake gaped at him.

"Oh my god, no," Sunghoon laughed, "I'm not making you learn with the little kids. No, I know the guys that coach this class. They let me use the far half of the rink to practice, since the kids' class doesn't need much space."

"It's okay for me to be here, too?" Jake asked tentatively.

"Yeah." Sunghoon squinted at the ice. "Oh, the kids are just doing their warm-ups. Here, I'll call them over, they won't mind."

Before Jake could protest, Sunghoon was waving from the door. "Hey, Chan-hyung! Soobin-hyung!"

"Wait, no, it's really okay--" Jake mumbled, but the two tall figures looked in his direction and began skating over.

"Hey, Sunghoon-ah!" The shorter, but broader of the two said as he stopped. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, hey, I'm Jake." he said with a nervous smile.

The coach smiled excitedly. "No way, Hyunjin told me about you! You're from Australia, right?"

Jake nodded, slightly surprised. He didn't expect to have made much of an impression on Sunghoon's friends.

"Oh, I'm Chan-- or Chris, if you prefer. I'm from Australia too, but I came here a couple years ago." the coach explained. "The other coach is Soobin--" he gestured back towards the group behind him, then jolted in surprise when he saw the other coach standing beside him. "I thought you were watching the kids! Go and watch the kids." he said in amused bewilderment.

The other coach gave an embarrassed grin. "Right, I forgot. Nice to meet you, Jake!" he waved as he skated back to the group of kids.

"Sorry about that." Chan laughed. "My colleague over there is Soobin, we both teach a couple of the kids' classes around here. The kids are good, they'd be fine by themselves, but with liability and all, we have to be around in case anything happens. "

"No, of course, that's okay." Jake smiled.

"Chan-hyung," Sunghoon started, "I actually brought Jake here to teach him how to skate. Is it okay if I do that on the other half of the rink?"

"Of course, of course!" Chan said happily, reaching to unlatch the door. "Soobin and I don't mind the company. Just don't distract the kids, and it'll be okay."

Jake glanced over at the other coach, who was leading the kids around one of the circles on the ice. "Of course."

Chan followed his gaze. "Well, I guess I'd better get back to my job," he laughed, "good luck! And, on a more serious note, let me know if you ever feel homesick and want to talk to someone. I know how it is, yeah?" He gave a reassuring smile as he turned to leave. "Bye!"

Sunghoon easily stepped over the plastic barrier onto the ice, turning around to help Jake.

Jake carefully stepped one foot onto the ice, already worried about how slippery it was. He grabbed onto the wall and stepped the other foot in, holding to the wall for dear life as Sunghoon calmly closed the door.

"We have to go to the far side..." Sunghoon grinned, seeing Jake cling to the wall. "If it's easier, stay close to the wall, but use the edge of your blades to push. Like this." he offered, gliding on one foot as he pushed off with the other.

Jake's eyes widened. "Ah... I don't know if I can do that."

Sunghoon laughed. "Of course you can. You have the wall right there, come on, it's not that tough."

"Easy for you to say." Jake pouted, but he released the wall, taking tiny strides forward. It was tough to balance, and he tottered every which way, but slowly, he was going forward.

"That's good!" Sunghoon cheered, following slowly beside him.

 _Maybe this will be okay,_ Jake thought, and just as the thought passed his mind, he leaned too far back. He flailed his arms to no avail, reaching for the wall. But his feet slipped from beneath him and he managed to hit his elbow against the wall, landing on his back. Sunghoon had made an effort to catch him, but only managed to slightly slow the fall.

"Ugh." Jake groaned, laughing. A few seconds passed before he overcame the shock and felt a dull pain throb through his back and elbow.

"I'll show you how to get up." Sunghoon offered, sitting on the ice beside him and demonstrating the proper procedure. Jake followed, trying not to grimace from the lingering pain of falling.

Once Jake got back on his feet, he let his eyes linger towards the ice where Chan and Soobin were teaching the kids' class. Although the kids looked pretty young-- maybe eight or so years old, they were already trying out spins and these little jumps on their own, while the two coaches drifted from kid to kid, correcting the technique.

"How are these kids so good?" Jake wondered aloud, and Sunghoon laughed. "You see what I mean when I said I started late? I was just like you when I joined this class. It took me a while to catch up."

Jake watched Soobin kneel down to meet a kid's height, showing her the proper arm positions. "You say you started late, but look at me now. I'm probably twice these kids' age."

Sunghoon laughed. "But you're learning quick. Come on, let's try going to the middle of the ice."

Jake took a few steps before he lost his balance once more, ending up sprawled on his knees. The fall only made Sunghoon laugh. Jake let out a soft whine of frustration, making the skater laugh even harder, mumbling something amusedly under his breath.

Still kneeling on the ice, Jake glanced over at the kids on the other side of the rink. Some of them seemed to be laughing at him, too. He laughed, a blush spreading over his face as he got up. "This is so much harder than you make it look," he complained to Sunghoon. "You made this look even easier as walking, but it certainly isn't."

"Let's try this, then," Sunghoon offered, standing in front of Jake so they were face-to-face. The skater took both his hands. "I'll skate backwards, and then you can hold on to me and kind of just glide forward, try to take steps if you're comfortable."

Jake looked down at Sunghoon grasping both his hands, the blush on his features deepening. "Um, okay."

Sunghoon smiled, starting off with a gentle push. Jake giggled as he felt himself move across the ice, being pulled by the other trainee. He held on to Sunghoon's hands a little tighter, afraid to let go.

"It's fun, right?" Sunghoon asked as he sped up slightly, taking Jake on a wide circle around their half of the ice.

"Yeah." Jake wasn't sure where to place his eyes, but they darted up to meet Sunghoon's face, and he saw that Sunghoon had been gazing into his eyes, a soft smile on his face. Once their eyes met, Jake couldn't bring himself to break the contact.

Sunghoon's eyes were mesmerizingly beautiful, and his gaze pierced into Jake so deeply, like they were seeing straight into his soul. Despite the frigid skating rink, Jake felt his heart burst into warmth, sparks traveling through their interlaced fingertips and igniting a little flame within his soul. He'd never met anyone who'd done this for him. Even as Sunghoon skated faster, increased the speed, it only made Jake's heart pound faster.

The wind rushed through Sunghoon's hair, ruffling it. Jake was tempted to reach out a hand and brush it, but he was content enough with his hands holding on to Sunghoon's. It was like an amusement park ride-- fast, and exhilarating, and even a little bit scary. But Jake was fully immersed in the moment, in Sunghoon's gorgeous eyes, in the excitement.

Sunghoon kept skating faster and faster, the adorable smile on his face getting wider and wider. Jake laughed as he was pulled along, yelping slightly when Sunghoon angled for a turn or he lost his balance for a moment.

"Are you having fun?" Sunghoon asked quietly, their eyes still locked in a gaze.

Before he could respond, Jake's left foot curved in too much, and his skates collided, causing him to lose balance altogether and fall backward, yanking Sunghoon along with him.

He felt two impacts-- one as his body slammed into the ice, and another as Sunghoon fell on top of him. The air was completely knocked out of him, and he rolled over slightly in pain.

"Ow," he mumbled, groaning a little.

"Oh my god," Sunghoon mumbled, clambering off the Australian's body. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry."

"No, it was my fault." Jake tried to laugh, but it still hurt to breathe.

"Are you hurt? What did you fall on, did you hit your head?" Sunghoon bent down close to Jake's face, a concerned expression on his face.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just got the air knocked out of me. I'll just catch my breath, and then I'll get up." Jake said, trying to smile even as he felt the pain blossoming through the hip and the arm that he'd landed on.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gone so fast." Sunghoon continued to apologize, a guilty expression on his delicate features. "I know it's your first time, I got carried away but that wasn't an excuse."

Jake heard another pair of skates come to a stop beside him.

"Hey, are you okay? I saw you guys fall," a soft, airy voice called out. A shadow came over Jake's face, and he blinked to see Soobin's tall figure standing over him.

"We're totally okay." Jake struggled to get up, still a bit sore from the fall. He knew it wasn't much, just the shock of getting the air taken out of his lungs, but he was fine. His woolen mittens stuck to the ice as he managed to get back on his skates.

Soobin smiled at them. "Okay, I'll leave you two alone. Be careful!" he warned mostly to Sunghoon, but his voice was gentle.

Sunghoon grinned guiltily at Jake. "You're really okay, right? We can take a break if you want."

"You said we only have an hour, teach me more!" Jake insisted.

They spent the rest of their time with Sunghoon teaching Jake how to stop, and making him comfortable with skating forward. By the time the large sign on the wall read 8 AM, Jake was still nowhere near as good as Sunghoon. But he'd had fun, and was certainly much better than he was when he'd started out.

The kids' class had also ended, and Chan and Soobin were dismissing the little kids on the other side of the ice. Just as Sunghoon was starting to lead Jake off the ice, Chan's call reached them.

"Sunghoon, can you come over? We wanted to talk."

"Okay!" Sunghoon called back. "Wait here for one minute," he told Jake. It wasn't like Jake had much of a choice, now that he was stranded by himself on this side of the rink. He couldn't go very far without losing his balance.

Sunghoon skated quickly over to the other side of the ice, and Jake frowned slightly, left alone.

~~~

"So," Chan began as Sunghoon met them on the other side of the ice, "you brought a friend today."

"Yeah," Sunghoon said, a little breathless from skating across the rink, "why, is there something wrong, hyung? I'm sorry if we were distracting the kids. We'll try to be quieter next time, I promise."

"Oh, so there will be a next time?" Soobin asked quizzically, but Chan continued to speak.

"I've known you for years now, Sunghoonie," Chan said softly, "and I know how important skating is to you. How precious this morning practice slot is to you. I've seen you tired, sick, but whatever, you'll still show up and practice."

Sunghoon nodded, a little confused.

"I just--" Chan chuckled, "You've never given up your practice time for anything, or anyone, for that matter."

Sunghoon shrugged, a slight blush tickling his cheeks.

"You two seem close," Chan observed, "and that's good, you should get to know people outside of skating. But-- and I'm saying this because I care about you, I promise-- if you want to get better, you need all the skating time you can get."

Soobin spoke in agreement, "You already know you've been slipping recently. If you give up your morning practice time to teach someone else, how can you improve as much as the other skaters? You're already spending half your time and energy doing your trainee work at the company."

Sunghoon nodded, feeling a tendril of sadness wrap around his heart. "I know." He looked down at the ice beneath his feet.

"I swear, we're not trying to hurt you here. But you work twice as hard as anyone here, and we just want to be sure that everything will work out for you." Chan said softly.

"And I saw you guys fall... I know it's not your fault, every beginner falls, but you can't risk getting hurt." Soobin added. "He's got a helmet, at least, but you know how much you're losing if you get hurt. This is your career in your hands."

Far across the ice, Jake couldn't hear a word of the conversation. But whatever it was, they seemed to look very focused, and Jake figured he should try to get to the door and get off the ice so he could warm up his frozen fingers and toes. He was four steps in before his plan failed, and he ended up falling down once more.

"I'd better go help him," Sunghoon said in a restrained voice, "see you later, hyungs." He headed back towards Jake, plastering a smile on his face as he met up with the Australian once more.

"Everything good?" Jake asked as he brushed the snow off his pants.

"Yep!" Sunghoon said. "Come on, we have to get off the ice before the Zamboni comes."

They quickly skated off the ice and Sunghoon helped him get off, walking to the changerooms. Jake's feet felt like blocks of ice.

Sunghoon took the bags out of the lockers, and they sat side-by-side, unlacing the skates. Jake struggled to untie the knot with his frozen fingers, but Sunghoon seemed completely used to it.

"So," Jake said shyly, "uh, can we ever do this again? I'm still not that great at skating," he laughed.

Sunghoon took a deep breath, his fingers pausing from unlacing his skates. "Um... yeah. I think we can. I'm just... maybe once a week, is that okay?"

"That would be awesome!" Jake said happily.

Sunghoon smiled as he continued to pack up his skates, but his friends' voices still rang through his head.

_You've never given up your practice time for anyone._

_If you give up your morning practice time to teach someone else, how can you improve as much as the other skaters?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, wow. To be honest, I had a lot more planned in terms of moving the plot along in this chapter. But the word count quickly added up, and soon this was getting much longer than the previous two chapters. I might end up adding a few more chapters to the total, in order to keep the chapters divided well.
> 
> Just a random fun fact: I heard about 'resting faces' probably a few years ago, where people were talking about their resting faces looking rude or impolite, and at the time I remember thinking, "oh, I'm lucky I'm not like that," and kind of forgetting about it. I realized a few days ago that I actually have had some sort of resting face my whole life, except it's a sad face. Ever since kindergarten, I've had random occasions where I've been asked if I was sad. I wonder how sad my resting face actually looks to other people, considering I feel like most people are really good at covering up their emotions when they're actually sad.
> 
> Anyways, that was just my random thought. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! March 13th (today) marks one year since the last day I had in-person school last year, so it's like a quarantine anniversary for me. Kind of crazy how this year has gone by-- so much has changed in the world, and yet as a single person, it feels like things have been so stagnant.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it! This is my first time writing about ENHYPEN and I'm excited about this.


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